Return to Shapwick

The two Martin's and myself went over to Shapwick again on Sunday primarily to try and see the Little Bittern and hopefully catch up with some Dragonfly species.

The Little Bittern was soon in the bag but unfortunately we could not find the female Red Footed Falcon which had been found just before we arrived. Lots of views of Bittern including two on the ground, Hobbies, Marsh Harriers etc. A nice bonus was four views of a Barn Owl hunting in the day, twice seen carrying quite a large prey back towards its nest box.

Some nice dragonflies were found including our main target Scarce Chaser.

To split the journey up on the way home we called into Goldcliff for the Curlew Sandpiper which had been reported there and before long Mr Bell found the gorgeous nearly full red summer plumaged bird.

Nant Hir

I visited the Tir Mawr y Dderi Hir SSSI today and was chuffed to see my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year, right by the Nant Hir.
The damp grassland at the north of the SSSI had loads of the large and striking froghopper Cercopis vulnerata.

Earlier in the visit, while trying to photograph this spectacular Cardinal Beetle, I discovered that my macro lens has developed a serious fault and will only focus between 30 and 70cm. Happy days!

The Black-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea)

Ruby tailed Wasp

I was working in Brynifor today near Mountain Ash. It was a very hot day and I was working on a house where I saw a Ruby Tail last year and if by magic one appeared, it showed briefly and it's a sight I am never  tired of seeing with the Blue and  Red metallic colours.  It is amazing and a must see for anyone with a  bucket list. Also the Cuckoo up on Darrenlas was very vocal and called a fair bit today.

This photo is from last year and down in Martin's Haven in Pembrokeshire.

Llanwonno

Martin Bevan and myself went up to Llanwonno last night to look for Nightjars. We arrived in lots of time and took a walk around the forest paths. Plenty of activity with Stonechats feeding chicks out of the nest, Willow Warblers carrying food and best of all Martin had a Grasshopper Warbler.

As we were looking for the Grasshopper Warbler the unmistakable churring sound of a Nightjar sounded to our left. We walked slowly that way and we were soon treated to a male Nightjar flying around and then perching on top of a tree. Another bird started calling and we then had a aerial display with the two males chasing each other. One landed in a closer tree and the noise intensity increased with the closer male getting louder and louder in what appeared to be an effort to force the other male off its terrority. Walking back to the car we had lots more aerial displays with wing clapping and we also heard at least two if not three more. Martin also heard another Grasshopper Warbler calling.

Nice surprise from Penywaun

Photo not from Penywaun,  on Monday I had a teneral Broad Bodied Chaser flying over the gardens. A first for the year and also the first one I have seen here. Yesterday I looked up to see a Cuckoo flying over the estate, it's been years since I saw one up here, later it was calling a fair bit away on the hill side.

Taf Bargoed north

Managed a record shot of pied flycatcher this a.m. singing, foraging and preening in oak alongside feeder stream of a very silted upper reaches of the Taf Bargoed. Also noted on the way in; a pair of linnet, the female collecting nesting material while the male looked on together with a pair of stonechat all holding territory on / near the same small patch of gorse. Oh, lots and lots and lots of fly-tipping, its traditional apparently.

Abercwmboi Lake

A quick visit before work yesterday to see if the local Mute Swans had had their new family yet. It's all quiet and she is sitting tight, he came over for some food but sadly I had no food. I got two more Damselflies for the valley. I had a couple Blue Tails and the same numbers of  Azure Damselflies. I also had half dozen Dingy Skippers, it's always nice to see the first for the year. I also got a single Burnet Companion moth but he was too fast for me so no photos.